Foxit eSlick, New eInk based reader for $229

[crucify]

waiting for reviews.

[SaraD]

I would also really like it to have the Epson controller, but that would seem too good to be true. The appearance is very recognizable as a rebranded Netronix 600 unit. If Netronix were to incorporate the Epson controller and a "higher quality screen" I would expect the outside to change drastically to show that it is indeed a new technology instead of the same old thing. And wouldn't Foxit want to brag about it at least a little? Every time I look at the specs list I keep hoping for more specific list.

[Dedale]

Mobileread staff will still receive a unit for test in the next days or they'll have to wait too ?

[Nate the great]

I wasn't clear before. They might ship a review unit next week, but it's more likely that it won't be shipped until after the New Year.

[Dedale]

Then, I'll be patient

[alll87]

thanks for share!! i found a better 1 in amazon!!ahha

[gylman]

I've pondered this aplenty, because every day as I try to use my PRS 505 the limitations of poor pdf support become more apparent.

If Foxit really have addressed reflow and paging properly with pdf documents, wouldn't they be far better off licensing this to Sony. Sony has a very substantial installed base that is crying out for decent pdf support. Foxit is not a hardware company. There are engineering issues, distribution issues, support issues etc etc - gawd only knows what kind of problems they will run into related to that aspect of the business.

Wouldn't both sides be better off working together, especially in these times when the cash is not flowing freely? I think poor PDF support is holding back the adoption of the eBook. The company that first addresses this will have a serious advantage.

Sony could offer Foxit's software as an upgrade to its existing PRS series, for a cost, and provide it on future models as part of the system.

I don't see a downside except for issues relating to ego. Sony has always gone it alone - that's the culture there. But the company is struggling now, and has had its butt whooped by Nintendo in the gaming world. Maybe they can find a tiny bit of humility.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by gylman

If Foxit really have addressed reflow and paging properly with pdf documents, wouldn't they be far better off licensing this to Sony.

That's really up to Sony not Foxit. Foxit does infact license their reader. The Jetbooks uses it.

Sony licenses their PDF viewer (and I think ePub) from Adobe.

BOb

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by gylman

If Foxit really have addressed reflow and paging properly with pdf documents, wouldn't they be far better off licensing this to Sony.

One way of looking at this is that Adobe and FoxIt are competitors for the PDF dollar. The advantage Adobe has is Adobe DRM, which locks ebooks to Adobe Digital Editions. This means that Sony can't switch horses from Adobe to FoxIt without ditching DRMed PDFs. i.e. it is virtually impossible. Since Adobe invented PDF you would expect them to have an advantage in PDF technology too, but Adobe Digital Editions is a dumbed down PDF reader. So FoxIt may already have better software (we will find out once the eSlick is available), or can incrementally improve to better software. Competition may spur Adobe to improve, but they could instead sit pat on their DRM bastion.

FoxIt could licence its handheld PDF reader software to other vendors, like Hanlin and Bookeen. It isn't clear if that is part of their plan or not. They should definitely sell PDF reader software for OpenInkPot directly from their website. I would gladly pay (say) $25 for such software, and this is unlikely to cannibalize eSlick sales.

[gylman]

Clearly, it's more complex than my simple analysis considers.

The final question in mind then is why Adobe provided such a dumbed down version of their software to Sony? And why Sony accepted it? Clearly it is hurting Sony's product sales, and I don't see any advantage to Adobe at all. All they are doing is creating opportunity for a (tiny) competitor.

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by gylman

The final question in mind then is why Adobe provided such a dumbed down version of their software to Sony?

Sony has pretty much exactly what the Desktop Adobe Digital Editions has (at least for ePub, I'm less sure about PDF). The Desktop version was dumbed down because Adobe is delivering it as a Flash application. I don't know if this required them to simplify the feature list or if this was just a time to market issue. To be fair to ADE, it is the only in-line PDF reflowing capability on a current EInk device and it does also deliver a full page view. What most people want is a "full page but margins clipped" view and conventional zoomed page views in addition to reflowing options. This is apparently what Foxit will provide, but the devil is in the details so we will have to wait to see if they bring this off.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by gylman

I've pondered this aplenty, because every day as I try to use my PRS 505 the limitations of poor pdf support become more apparent.

If Foxit really have addressed reflow and paging properly with pdf documents, wouldn't they be far better off licensing this to Sony. Sony has a very substantial installed base that is crying out for decent pdf support. Foxit is not a hardware company. There are engineering issues, distribution issues, support issues etc etc - gawd only knows what kind of problems they will run into related to that aspect of the business.

Wouldn't both sides be better off working together, especially in these times when the cash is not flowing freely? I think poor PDF support is holding back the adoption of the eBook. The company that first addresses this will have a serious advantage.

Sony could offer Foxit's software as an upgrade to its existing PRS series, for a cost, and provide it on future models as part of the system.

I don't see a downside except for issues relating to ego. Sony has always gone it alone - that's the culture there. But the company is struggling now, and has had its butt whooped by Nintendo in the gaming world. Maybe they can find a tiny bit of humility.

Sony is already licensing ADE. Why would they license yet another product that does the same thing?

[pennpin]

they sent me another newsletter with this link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdPLe8TU57U

[wallcraft]

The eSlick home page now says:

Good news: Foxit is currently working with different content providers for DRM PDF support, including the support for eReader format.

This statement is ambiguous: does it mean standard eReader ebook support and DRMed PDF (or what)? With or without eReader ebooks, the "DRM PDF" could be eReader DRM (i.e. not Adobe Secure PDFs, but another Secure container for PDF). FictionWise is already taking about eReader DRM for ePub, so this seems possible.

In any case, this does make the eSlick an even more interesting new entry into the ebook market. I wonder if this device is what scuttled the original Astak Mentor. Price and features are sounding familiar, although the PDF capability is what Foxit uniquely brings to the table.

[hidari]

[quote=gylman;315743]I've pondered this aplenty, because every day as I try to use my PRS 505 the limitations of poor pdf support become more apparent.

/QUOTE]

Why do you comment on the PDF support on the Sony 505? have you ever used it more than a few times on your 505?. I find the 505 to be quite adequate to support PDFs with reflow. If you but it on L size it reads quite well. If you are anal retentive you may not like the spacing that happens at times. However, the text reads quite well.

Why not be positive that Sony has actually added Re-flow for PDFs instead of complaining about it?

And as HARRY T and many have said. PDFs are NOT meant to be read on ebook readers. Many people on here read books in many formats beside PDF. Perhaps you should try it? Mobipocket and .lrf are quite good formats.

Kindles are selling quite well without PDFs....

hidari.